German coach Jürgen Klopp of Liverpool hopes that his team has regained its form just in time to take revenge on Spanish giants Real Madrid, ahead of their clash at Anfield in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16, a rematch of last year's final. Real Madrid clinched their fourteenth title at the Stade de France last year, defeating their English rival Liverpool 1-0, leaving the latter unable to seek retribution for their 2018 final loss to the Spanish club, which ended 3-1.
However, Liverpool is far from the level they reached last season, which saw them competing for a historic quadruple, and currently sit in eighth place, 19 points behind league leaders Arsenal. Yet, back-to-back victories over Everton and Newcastle after a series of disastrous results have renewed hopes among the club's supporters for a chance at qualifying for the Champions League, currently placing them eighth, seven points off fourth place and with two games in hand.
Klopp stated on Monday in the lead-up to the match: "It's the Champions League, it's one of the biggest matches in the world. It will be a high-class game, and I'm very happy we get to play it now." He continued: "If it had been four weeks ago, it would have been a bit different, but life is about timing, and maybe we've found our form just in time for this game. We've achieved those two results and hope to build on them, but we need to deliver two perfect matches to qualify."
Liverpool is eager to overcome their recent struggles against Real, having been eliminated by them in the quarter-finals of the continental competition during the 2020-2021 season (0-0 and 3-1), in addition to the two recent finals. In last year's final, Liverpool was the better side, with Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who was named man of the match, leading his team to victory.
Klopp acknowledged: "We played that final in Paris, and I never watched it until last weekend. Now I understand why I never watched it; it was painful because we played a good game and could have won." He added: "They scored a decisive goal, and we didn't, that was the reason. You can see in this game the experience of Real Madrid, how resilient they are. They don't lose confidence for a second; that's what you can learn from them."
